Voice referendum one step closer amid calls to ignore ‘wreckers’

Australians will head back to the polls later this year after the government set in motion the first step for a major referendum.

Australians have been urged to not let the “wreckers” hold the nation back from formally recognising First Nations people in the Constitution.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney hit out at the naysayers of the advisory body as she stood side-by-side with members of the referendum working group on Thursday.

“Yes to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Yes to constitutional recognition. Yes to a voice to the parliament,” Ms Burney said.

Linda Burney urged Australians to ignore the so-called wreckers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“Now of course there will always be those that seek to hold us back. Those doubters, those wreckers, they want to hold Australia back.

“Well, we want to take Australia forward. We want to take Australia forward more united, more hopeful and more reconciled than ever before.”

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus introduced the proposal to alter the constitution on Thursday, paving the way for a referendum on amending the nation’s founding document to entrench the Voice to be held later this year.

The public gallery joined Labor MPs in a standing ovation for Mr Dreyfus at the end of his address. Only a dozen Coalition MPs were in the chamber for the Bill’s introduction.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament House after the legislation was introduced, Indigenous leader and key Voice adviser Pat Anderson said there was now “nowhere else to go”.

“We’ve got our bare arses on the barbed wire,” she said.

She said the Voice would ensure those who were born after her wouldn’t have to justify their existence again.

Ms Anderson is one of the co-chairs of the Uluru Dialogue group whose 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart called for a constitutionally enshrined Voice as an important step towards reconciliation.

Great job everyone. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Asked to respond to her comments later on Thursday, Anthony Albanese said the Uluru Statement from the Heart was a “hand outstretched in friendship and reconciliation” from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Prime Minister made another impassioned plea for people to vote “Yes”, appealing to what he described as Australians’ “generosity of spirit” to back the Voice even though he said the advisory body wouldn’t have a direct effect on most of them.

“The truth is, the Voice won’t make a difference to most Australians’ lives in a practical sense. They won’t be impacted by this,” he told Network 10.

“But it might just make a difference to one of the most disadvantaged groups in our society.”

Mr Albanese didn’t answer directly when asked what parliament and the executive government would do with the advice it would receive from the Voice if it were established.

“Well, it doesn’t have a right of veto. That’s what’s important,” he said.

“The primacy of the parliament, (of) our central democratic institutions remain intact. What this simply does is allow for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices to be heard.”

Academic Pat Anderson said there was ‘nowhere left to go’ Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The government has confirmed a civics and awareness campaign to inform Australians about the facts of the Voice will be rolled out from May.

Additionally, a parliamentary inquiry on the wording of the proposed Constitutional alteration has been given the green light to report back in six weeks’ time.

But Peter Dutton remains unconvinced and on Thursday repeated his call for the government to release Solicitor-General Stephen Donoghue’s legal advice on the Voice.

The Opposition Leader also warned taxpayers may have to foot the bill for any future High Court challenges that he said would arise if the Voice goes ahead as planned — with the power to advise executive government as well as the parliament of the day.

Speaking on Sydney’s 2GB Radio, Mr Dutton claimed legal challenges from the Voice could cost “millions”.

“All of that is just passed onto taxpayers,” he said.

The federal Liberals are yet reveal whether they will support the Voice. The Coalition’s junior partner, the Nationals, confirmed last year they will oppose the referendum.

Mr Albanese Wednesday dismissed suggestions the Voice would spark a wave of High Court challenges.

“Every single time there has been an advance on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs in this country, in my lifetime, there has been an argument, which says it will end in litigation,” he said referring to the Wik native title decision and the Mabo High Court ruling.